It's amusing how the review skirts around the un-asked question of what the power rating actually means...the vague journalese phrases like "packing 900 watts of power" and "clocks in at 900 watts" [have they never heard of James Watt!?] are telling. As it happens they're pretty meaningless figures to quote anyway for a self-powered speaker; what matters is the SPL the thing is capable of.

I thought the review gave some really positive feedback on the quality of the audio through all frequencies (high to mid to low) however it was critical about the spatial qualities:

"....the audio information is piled up like a wedding cake. There’s very little elbow-room on the stage the Reactor describes, very little space between instruments and, as a consequence, a slightly claustrophobic quality to the sound."

Yes, but this is a single speaker, I am pretty sure a stereo set up would help separation. Wish they would release the stereo-pairing function soon so we can find out. But as with he original Phantoms a stereo pair improved the sound considerably.

I'm afraid this is what Devialet wants. How do you sell a product to a 'mostly' clueless new customer group? Make sure reviews appear in Wired or Reddit or similar (in stead of real audio sites - look at mitchco's Phantom review on Computer Audiophile for example). Then you are certain that important information is glossed over or omitted. Of course, far from all Reactor customers are clueless. We're getting quite a bit of decent info here on DC.

(09-Jan-2019, 13:56)AaronG Wrote: Other than the mistakes noted above that is a really well-written, amusing, and informative review. So many reviews in the audio press don't say much, but that one really does.

I actually think Reactors in stereo could be very good! A single full range for mid and treble can be quite wonderful. A single speaker for mono is not my thing though..

(09-Jan-2019, 13:56)AaronG Wrote: Other than the mistakes noted above that is a really well-written, amusing, and informative review. So many reviews in the audio press don't say much, but that one really does.

I actually think Reactors in stereo could be very good! A single full range for mid and treble can be quite wonderful. A single speaker for mono is not my thing though..

I agree that the congestion comment is probably just due to mono, and in stereo that won't be the case. But Devialet deserves a lot of mocking for its acronyms.

I would say that the Wired review is pretty spot on actually (apart from obvious inaccuracy)! It does the bass thing extraordinarily well, lots of impact there. It plays very loud although I find it loses some of its composure at higher volumes. I do find that it sounds a little congested at times (particularly with more complex music) and wondered if this was due to it being brand new. Hopefully Devialet know what they are doing and this will be addressed with future firmware updates and of course stereo playback which I imagine will take things up a peg or two!

Anyway still early days here, will report back more when I've had a bit more time with it.